


Should Have Carried The One

by The_Lich_Queen



Series: tales of the unexpected [43]
Category: Undertale
Genre: Alternate Universe - Underfell (Undertale), Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-21
Updated: 2020-05-21
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:08:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,961
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24302650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Lich_Queen/pseuds/The_Lich_Queen
Summary: Sans miscalculates and ends up in a scary place, he survives and returns home
Series: tales of the unexpected [43]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1749436
Comments: 3
Kudos: 30





	1. Chapter 1

Dr. Comic Sans Serif groans loudly, his pained noise was drowned by the roaring of wind coming from somewhere above him; coughing he tries to stand but falls to his knees once more.

Sans let his eye glow, an unworldly blue illuminated the cave he found himself in.

Turning he stares at the reck that was his time machine. It was blackened in parts, while smoking only slightly, meaning it had long burned out. Looking around he sees that the cave’s walls were free from fire damage, nor was the small cave’s ceiling filled with think smoke. So here was not the place it caught the light and burned.

Moaning, sighing and huffing, the skeleton sits cross-legged on the icy cold ground, in order to get his bearings.

The young doctor needed to see where he was, thus he opens his menu and frowns deeply. There were no shortcuts in this area, meaning he was nowhere near where he left off.

Sans stood and wanders to his machine, glancing inside, from the place he had been thrown. Shaking his head, he moves inside to save the data. Nothing really matters but the data, if the shell broke as long as he had his data, he could rebuild.

According to his research, if he focuses on the power that was his ‘shortcuts’ or ‘light transfers’, he would be able to travel not only through quick forward space but a backward time.

Sans found the motherboard and removes it from the reck with his bones, then placing it safely in his sub-pocket. Then he leaves before anything could explode or fall on him.

At a safe distance he stares around at the cave.

After a while of studying his surroundings, skeleton just stood there for a moment trying to work out with went wrong; his only guess that instead of going to the past, his shortcut springboarded him to a place he had never been.

There was a small gap where he could maybe crawl through. It was covered over in the snow, but the howling wind told him that there was the outside world.

Glancing down at himself he really was not dressed for this kind of weather. Sans was wearing long navy shorts, a red vest with his white lab coat over the top. Along with green and gold flip flops.

Deciding that his coat would get caught on the rocks or something, he removes it and that too goes into his sub-pocket.

With a determined glint in his glowing eye, he moves forward, climbing first and then reaching the hole, tries pushing the snow out of the way. Somehow he manages to squeeze through.

Once out heavy snow covers one side of him, he wraps his arms around himself in hopes that it would not go into his rib cage.

Turning he blinks against the dark blizzard, it looked like he was standing in the middle of a building site. The foundation had already been laid.

‘*not very deep ones if there a cave right below!’ Sans thinks a little angry at the carelessness of the builders.

Half closing his orbits, he gazes through and sees lights. With his whole strength he pushes in the snow, it being up to his mid femurs. It seemed like hours he tracked, but he came across a building and much to his delight it was a restaurant.

‘*please let it be open.’ Sans pleas silently, gritting his teeth against the cold, it felt his marrow was frozen within his bones.

Sans fell against the door and forces them open. The inside was so warm, that every one of his freezing bones felt like they took a dip in acid.

Sans pats himself down, looking around as he did. The place had no tables or chairs, it was empty of everything apart from a bar along with barstools. Feeling a little better, he makes his way across the room and pulls himself upon one barstool. He studies his bones, they were grey, dust-like grey.

The place seemed well stocked from what he could see, but there was no bartender.

Sans wonders briefly if he should just walk around and make his own drink. But he did not want to make the owner mad and he still needs information about where in the world he was.

A door flung open and a purple fire elemental stalks out, he turns to the bar and froze, as if completely surprised that somemon was there.

Slowly, very slowly, the fire elemental walks behind the bar however instead of serving Sans, he bends down while keeping a close eye on him, checking things within the bar. Then the fire monster stood and stares at the drinks on deploy behind the bar.

“*evening? sorry were ya closed?” Sans asks with a kind lazy smile, “don’t need to bother ya. but needed shelter and warmth.”

“....you. You didn’t take anything.” The fire elemental states as this were the most shocking ever, “Why? You could have gotten my Gs. Or my stock. You could have ruined me.”

Sans stares in confusion for a moment, not understanding what the other meant.

“*why would ya think i’d take ya stuff. i ain’t unkind enough to do such a thing.” Sans told the fire elemental with a small smile, “anyway. i’m comic sans. you can call me sans. can i buy a drink. my bones are still a little frozen.”

”I am Grillby.” The newly named Grillby told him firmly, frowning deeply, he looked like he wanted to both punch Sans and/or hug him, “I have flaming whiskey.”

“*heh. sounds hot.” Sans says, the pointed expression on Grillby features makes him laughs aloud, “didn’t mean it like that friend.”

Grillby stops his current actions of getting glasses, to stare in amazement at him.

“Do you have a death wish?” Grillby asks in surprise, “because if you keep talking you are going to have a bad time.”

Sans held his hands up in surrender, grinning boldly at the other.

“*heh. sorry pal.” Sans says, he checks his money. He had a few Gs on him, but it was a rare thing to have nowadays since human money slowly overtook the G. But the fire elemental monster said Gs, then he would use them.

“*how much for a glass?” Sans asks bringing out his wallet and gazes in.

”500 Gs.” Grillby told him, placing a glass in front of him.

”*how much for a sip?” Sans asks lowering himself down slightly, feeling sweat build upon his skull.

”500 Gs.” Grillby told him, pouring out the liquid with a nasty smile on his face.

”*...can i open a tab?” Sans asks with a nervous laugh, “i actually don’t have enough...oh right! could ya tell me where i am too. i’m kind of lost.”

”....I can open a tab or you can work it off.” Grillby said pouring another drink, this time for himself, “go ahead drink it. You earned it by not stealing off me.”

”*huh? are there many thefts about here?” Sans asks taking the glass and bringing it to his teeth, began sipping it slowly.

Grillby snorts loudly, “Like you wouldn’t believe.”

“*oh? heh. we’ve got time. i can’t go anywhere.” Sans says smiling boldly, he leans forward watching the flames flickering. “...ah. but frist. backtracking a bit. can ya tell me where i am?”

”Welcome to Snowdin.” Grillby huffs out, he takes a swig of his drink, “It’s still being built. And is acting for the overflow or something. A lot of trees were chopped down for this place.”

”*snowdin....” Sans mumbles an odd feeling of dread and excitement working it way in his soul. “...like. we’re on the far corner of the mt. ebott underground?”

”Yeah. That’s right.” Grillby said with a nod, “I put in my life’s savings into this place. Always been a dream of my to open a bar. And now that my daughter is old enough, I thought I would go for it.”

”*heh. cheers to ya!” Sans suddenly says loudly, holding his drink up to Grillby who was staring at him in surprise once again, “for taking a chance and following ya dream!”

Grillby laughs a little, then clicks glasses with Sans. Sans takes a large gulp and tries to stop the rattling of his bones.

’*i’ve done it.’ Sans thinks grinning while staring into his glass, ‘i’ve done it! snowdin. snowdin. mt. ebott. there’s no need for this mon to lie. i think i know what went wrong. i forgot to carry the one! and instead of traveling a few hours, i’ve travelled... i can’t say for sure. but monsters of the first unsealing. some came from a town called snowdin. i must be over a hundred years in the past!’

Sans felt eyes on him, he glances up to see Grillby watching him carefully.

“*heh. sorry for giving ya the silent treatment.” Sans says quickly with his best smile, “i’m not meant to come here... and i have no way of getting back.”

”So, you’re from the capital. It is a bit of a walk.” Grillby agrees in thought, then stares at him for a second, “Don’t make me regret this. But if you no place to go, then you can stay in my spare room.”

”*yeah! really?!” Sans says excited, he grins at his new friend, “thanks grillby...”

Suddenly Sans remembers a very important history lesson about the monsters that were sealed under Mt.Ebott. Before the human freed them, it was rampant with violence and murder. ‘Kill or be killed’ was the way of this underground.

So unlike the underground his family was sealed in further West of Mt.Ebott. And was the fifth to be freed after it was discovered that Mt.Ebott was not the only place monsters had been sealed.

“*thanks grillz. heh.” Sans laughs, feeling sweat form on his skull again this time for a different reason, “so ya was gonna tell me about thieves.”

Grillby nods, then open his mouth to speak, Sans listens intently to what he had to say. By the time Grillby shows him upstairs to the small spare room, he was falling over his own feet and on to the fire elemental, who held onto tightly. The room, which was more like a big cupboard than a room, was perfect for his size.

Thanking Grillby Sans settles down, laying on the wooden floor. His mind was racing, he kept glancing out his window to see a ceiling full of glowing rocks.

’*huh? when did the blizzard clear?’ Sans think dully, being drunk did not stop him from worrying about his situation, ‘while i’m here. i can’t mess up anything. if i start interacting with historic monsters or something. it might be the end of my world as i know it.’

Sans thoughts went to his machine. He knew he had to get it fixed and return to his own time no matter what.


	2. Chapter 2

Dr Comic Sans Serif looked different from when he first came to the underground, his teeth were now razor-sharp, he had lost a tooth too, and had replaced it with a fake gold one. He wore a blood-red turtleneck jumper, with a black collar wrapped around the neck of the jumper. Sans had a heavy black jacket, with an off white fluffy hood. His long shorts were black with yellow stripes running down the sides, with red black trainers and yellow socks.

Sans’s once clean white bones had taken a darker tone; he had cracks on his skull, his left eye was always glowing an eerie red.

Yes. He had changed a great deal.

However now that the kid and that flower had freed them and spread love, joy, hope, and goodwill throughout monsterkind, with no reset in view, he knew he had to go.

“SANS!” Papyrus’s voice snaps at him, turning he sees his ‘brother’ marching up to him, “HAVE YOU MOVED THOSE BOXES YET!? DID YOU FALL ASLEEP AGAIN?! YOU M-”

Suddenly he stops and stares at Frisk who appeared, they were tapping their foot and had their arms folded, a look of disappointment graced their face. The flower was wrapped around their arm, looking bemused by the whole thing.

“FINE! I PROMISED I WOULD TRY! I KNOW THIS!” Papyrus shout, his scared skull removes its frown, he then looks everywhere but Sans, “BROTHER! COULD YOU PLEASE GET TO WORK! MONSTERS ARE COUNTING ON US FOR THESE SUPPLIES!”

”*sorry boss.” Sans says with a smirk, it was going to be hard trying to get used to not acting this way, “i’ll get that done now.”

Sans walks away from his adopted brother, and while he was the older ones, in reality Papyrus was older than him, since Sans would not be born for another sixty-odd year from now.

’*its almost ready....’ Sans told himself wandering through the tents the monster was currently dwelling in. Soon this place would be the first monster town on the surface for many hundreds upon hundreds of years and then, by the time he is born, it will have become a mighty city.

Sans halts, he grins when he sees his old friend pouring drinks of water to the workers.

“*looking good hot stuff!” Sans calls as he passes, earning him a light glare from his best friend. He only laughs loudly.

As he moves closer to the centre of the monster camp, his mind went to Gaster. After sending a couple of years in Snowdin with Grillby, he started working at the Core, where he became assistant to Dr W.D. Gaster and because he had no memory of Gaster being in the history books, he felt it safe to work with him.

They became great friends. And Gaster reveals he was in love with both the king and the missing queen. Sans was not sure he could support this love, since he could not remember him. Sans knew that the king and queen got back together but that was it.

Of course it became clear when the Core accident happened.

Leaving Gaster’s son Papyrus without anyone. Sans was shocked since not once did his boss tell him about having a child. What made matters worst, Papyrus was somemon he knew from the history books.

Little Papyrus had looked so lonely, standing by the orphanage in confusion. Sans went right over, claiming to be his brother. There had been a fight but Sans got to take Papyrus back with him, to his house that was built upon the cave his machine was in.

There had to be a way to get Gaster back, however, he did not have the power to do so at this moment in time.

‘*...a hundred years from now...maybe...’ Sans told himself, he found Muffet and drops the boxes he had been carried this whole time, in front of her, she raised many eyebrows at his grim expression but said nothing.

‘*a few more years and then- ...’ Sans thinks but stops this line of thought, ‘if i keep putting it off then i’ll never go home.’ his thought went to his family, he had two mothers, two sisters, and an older brother. He had not seen them in many many years.

“*okay. let’s end this soon.” Sans mumbles darkly, shortcutting away from the tents, “i know just what to do.”


	3. Chapter 3

As it turns out, staging one’s own death was a lot harder than it seemed.

It was only because of his shortcuts that he was able to pull it off and got a lot of trouble making humans in hot water while he was at it.

It went on when an anti-monsters group attacked, Sans made a big performance about it, throwing a fake dusting in front of cameras too, making sure that this group went behind bars and solidify the fact that he was dust.

Sans actually watches the trial of his murder.

The best thing was before, he got to see Papyrus confess his love for that stupid robot. Sans was happy for him, truly he was.... but somewhere along the way Sans had fallen for his ‘brother’.

Knowing he was not in his right place or time, he could never tell him the truth.

Sans opens his orbits, listening to the humming of the machine and bubbles liquids beyond the door. The was an old familiar sound and a welcome one.

Reaching out he grabs the handle, then pushes it open. An odd noise hisses out as stream files out and fills the room.

Stepping out he blinks at the sudden change in pressure. There were two silhouettes coming towards him. Blinking he sees the tearful faces of his mothers.

“Sans!” Both screamed running to him, the two hugged him tightly.

“Stupid. Stupid. Boy.” His Mum told him in a hushed tone.

”You have been gone for hours!” His Ma went on, speaking fast.

Then they pause, taking a good look at him.

“What have you done to yourself!” His Mum cries out in horror, looking him up and down at his appearance.

”*heh. if ya give me a minute. i can explain.” Sans told them, grinning boldly at their reactions.

Sans had gotten all his numbers right this time.


	4. Chapter 4

It had been six years since his return and the white of his bones had recovered from the lack of sunlight; San’s teeth had grown flat once again, from lack of weekly sharping. It had taken a while but he managed to stop his left eye from constantly glowing blood red and his eyelights returned, or though they never returned to their natural white, they were a deep pastel red and at times, true red

After telling everything to his family, he locks away his machine, deeming it far too dangerous for anyone to use. To which his mother's comment on how grown up he had become.

He had been working on many theories in hopes of bringing Gaster back, but never actually gonna around to going to Mt.Ebott to work there.

To afraid.

Sans touches the gap in his teeth, the place where his gold tooth once was. Even after all this time, he still had an empty feeling without and it was not because of his tooth gone.

“Ladies and Gentlemen,” The announcer’s voice came making him jump, “We have our local speaker, Dr. Comic Serif! And will be carrying on with today's theme from our guest speaker.”

Sans wanders onto the stage with an extremely relaxed expression, he halts behind the podium, waiting a second for the worker to adjust the microphone. Once he has done Sans looks out at the audience, which he could barely see thanks to the stupid lighting and lack of glasses, which was fine by him. If he saw the listeners, he would likely made jokes, so his current boss told him to stop wearing his specks when given talks.

”*heh. hi.” Sans drones with a lazy grin, he could already hear his boss slapping their forehead, “i’m dr. serif. and today i’m gonna chat ‘bout light. space. and time. how can we as-“

A loud bang and shout cause him to stop, turning he sees security trying to hold someone back to the right of the staging. Reaching for his thick rounded glasses, he slips them on. Only to get the shock of his life.

A pair of glowing red eyes wisps around from its owner’s orbits, a dark scowl was upon the skull, as the skeleton easily forces the weak security away from him and moves towards the stage.

It was Papyrus.

Glancing down he notices another monster standing below the stage but in front of him, it was his pun pal, Toriel. With a powerful leap she was over the heads of the security and on stage with him.

With his glasses on, he could see other faces he knew well, all along with the front row seats.

‘*oh... these must be the ‘most honoured guests’ that sloth monster was going on ‘bout.’ Sans thinks in a panic, he starts backing away from Toriel.

Suddenly he was picked up and thrown over a shoulder.

“*...er... help?” Sans mumbles out, it realized it was his best friend Grillby, “heh. hey there hot stuff. ya got a problem with me?”

Grillby remains silent, he hurries over to Papyrus, where he tossed him into waiting arms.

“*ya got a bone to pick with me or something?” Sans asks jokingly, but he felt sweat forming on his brow, Papyrus just stares at him through the chaos happening around them, ‘how am i meant to explain this!’

Papyrus then starts walking him off stage bridal style, leaving many voices chatter among themselves, all wondering what he done for the legendary monsters to act this way.

Glancing around he sees Toriel and Grillby walking either side of Papyrus, it would be funny if not for their grime faces.

“*...so. want hear a joke?” Sans asks with a grin, “a skeleton. goat and fire elemental walks into science lecture. and kidnaps the local scientist. so what-”

“UNHAND MY SON!” His Ma screams out, a row of bones already up, surrounding the large corridor they found themselves in. Behind her was his older -real- brother, ready for a fight but looking completely scared out of his wit.

”*ma! bro!” Sans cries out from his place, the thing was about his ma was, he was the image of her, “please go back home. don’t worry. they’re harmless.”

Sans could always feel the way his friends and brother were eyeing up her and then him.

“But sweetheart!” Ma cries out, pointing a bone at Papyrus, “isn’t he the one who-“

”* g o h o m e m a.” Sans growls out, his orbits darkening.

”*Do not talk to Me like that Comic Sans!” His real brother slaps out, reaching for their mother’s shoulders since she had bowed her head down.

It had the opposite effect on her. His Ma cheers happily.

“You look just like your Mummy when you do that!” Ma says laughing.

”*Really Ma?” His real brother said with a sigh. Then turning to Sans, “This is why you’re a spoiled brat.”

A wall of bones and fire of surrounds his real brother, panicking the Serif family.

“*whoa! easy there!” Sans says turning to Papyrus, he leans up to grab his skull in his hands and turn his to face his way, “my bro doesn’t mean it like that.”

”I AM YOUR ‘BRO’ BROTHER!” Papyrus, at last, said, his voice sounding rough like he was about to cry.

“*er... technically... this is the first time we’ve met...” Sans told him sadly, “and i ain’t ya real brother. i sort of just took ya in when your father went missing.”

Papyrus stares at him for a moment. It was then Sans sees just how much older Papyrus had gotten since the last time he has seen him.

”COME! WE HAVE MUCH TO DISCUSS!” Papyrus said to him, then turning to his real brother he glares, “MOVE ASIDE!”

Toriel wanders over to his mother and greets her with a friendly smile but there was a bit of insane glint. Sans grins, His Ma loves jokes.

Sans felt hands tighten on his ribs and behind his knees, where he was being held. Looking to his ‘brother’ once more he sees that he was holding back tears.

“*ma. can ya keep toriel and grillz company,” Sans asks nicely, he nods towards Papyrus slightly.

Seeing the tall skeleton bear tears made her sigh heavily and nods, she still wanted to give him a telling off for how he treated Sans.

“*thanks. welp.” He turns to look at Papyrus, “want to take a shortcut to my place?”


End file.
